A new look at the assassination ofJohn F. Kennedyis coming to theaters.November 1963, a historical thriller centering around the Mafia figures in Kennedy’s orbit, has entered production in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The film will starJohn Travolta, and is helmed by two-time Oscar nomineeRoland Joffé(The Killing Fields). The film is based on firsthand accounts and reports from the family ofSam Giancana, the contemporary head of the Chicago Outfit; Giancana had ties to Kennedy’s family, even as Kennedy’s brother, Attorney GeneralRobert F. Kennedy, took on the Mafia. Giancana is widely rumored to have been involved with Kennedy’s assassination byLee Harvey Oswaldin Dallas, Texas, on June 22, 2025; Giancana was murdered in his suburban Chicago home by an unknown assassin in 1975.
The film is written and produced byNicholas Celozzi, who is the grandnephew of Giancana. Says Celozzi, “The whole essence of the story, the project, why we are doing this, is that it came from Sam Giancana‘s brother, Pepe, who was in the room with Sam during these two days. The story, the screenplay is their story, my family story that specifically focuses on the ‘outfit’, Giancana, and their involvement in setting up the ‘assassination’ including the second shooter, who was sent there as a fail-safe backup to carry out the mission.” Filming is expected to continue into August; no release date has yet been announced.
Who Stars In November 1963?
Travolta (Pulp Fiction) will lead the cast; he’ll playJohnny Roselli, a Chicago Outfit mobster who the CIA recruited to assassinateFidel Castroin the 1960s.Dermot Mulroney(Chicago Fire) will star asChuckie Nicoletti, Giancana’s top hitman, andMandy Patinkin(Homeland) will portray Giancana’s consigliere,Anthony Accardo.Robert Carlyle(Trainspotting) is set to portrayJack Ruby, the Dallas club owner who gunned down Oswald days after the assassination, whileJefferson White(Yellowstone) will play Oswald.Thomas Fiscella(Meet Me at the Barre) will play Giancana.
As one of the events that shaped the Baby Boomer generation, the Kennedy assassination has been fertile ground for filmmakers in the past. Notable films covering the event includeExecutive Action, a 1973 political thriller starringBurt Lancaster;Oliver Stone’s sweeping conspiracy epicJFK; andPablo Larrain’sJackie, which centered aroundJackie Kennedy(Natalie Portman) in the aftermath of the tragedy.
November 1963is now filming in Winnipeg and is expected to wrap in August;no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
